Regaining Light
by Wild Force Ranger
Summary: In which Bridge is absent for large portions of this Bridge centric story, and I disguise my lack of fight scene writing ability by cutting to something else every time a fight starts. Non Chronicles.
1. Chapter 1

Regaining Light

"Hey, Jack! How about this?"

Jack turned to look at the top Z was holding up. "It's purple." he pointed out.

"So?"

"It's…purple."

"You're so helpful, Jack!"

Jack grinned, leaning against the stall while she rooted for something new. Three days of quiet had all the Rangers on edge and Cruger had banished them from the base for a while; Z had remembered the market was running this week, and here they were. Syd and Sky were looking through a stall a little way down the aisle, while Bridge was on the other side of square sitting on a wall. He'd looked around for a while, but the crowd was getting to him.

"Jack." Z jerked her chin towards Bridge, and Jack followed her gaze, frowning as Bridge's words became audible.

"…don't want to talk to you." he said firmly, turning away from the girl in front of him. About their own age, she looked vaguely Hispanic and was obviously angry as she chased him.

"You need to…"

"I don't _need _to do anything except go with my friends. Go home."

"Bridge…"

"Go home." he repeated, breaking into a jog to rejoin them. The girl glared after him but made no move to follow.

"You alright?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." He very deliberately didn't turn. "It's fine."

"Sure?"

"It's fine." Bridge repeated.

"Who's she?" Z asked.

He still didn't turn. "Someone I used to know."

"Used to." Jack repeated.

"She's still staring at you." Syd added.

"I know. Are we done?"

He strode off without waiting for an answer, and the four exchanged glances.

"Forget this." Jack said finally, turning and heading for the girl. She watched him calmly.

"Who are you?" Jack demanded.

"A friend of Bridge's." This close she looked older, maybe as much as ten years older than them. Dark hair and eyes added to the 'Hispanic' impression, but her skin was oddly pale. She was probably a little taller than Syd.

Sky stepped into Jack's peripheral vision, providing silent support. He figured the others had probably gone after Bridge.

"He doesn't usually run away from his friends."

She flinched, staring over Jack's shoulder in the direction Bridge had taken. "We were friends once. I'd hoped we still could be. But he's not forgotten."

"Forgotten what?"

Abruptly she refocused on him, and her tone was oddly wistful when she said, "He looked happy."

"Until just now, he was." Jack said pointedly, and she flinched again.

"We used to be friends." she repeated in the same wistful tone, and then she turned and walked away.

* * *

"We were never friends." Bridge said firmly.

"S'not what she says."

"You _talked _to her?"

Jack blinked at the dismay in Bridge's face. "Who is she, Bridge?"

"Jack, do you trust me?"

"What? Of course I…"

"No. I don't mean as a Ranger. Do _you,_Jack Landers, trust me?"

"Yeah, Bridge." Jack didn't bother thinking about it. "I trust you."

"Then _don't talk to Singer._ I mean it; just ignore her."

"You think we'll see her again?"

"Yeah." Bridge nodded. "I think we'll see her again."

* * *

They didn't see her for a long time, though, and three of the Rangers forgot about it. Bridge was quieter than normal for a couple of days, before snapping right back out of it.

Jack kept an eye out whenever they were in the city, aware that Bridge was doing the same. Occasionally he caught a glimpse of Singer, but she wasn't making any effort to approach and didn't seem to be trying to be seen. Bridge still refused to talk about her, and eventually Jack gave up; if he needed to, he'd tell them, and until then it wasn't worth upsetting him over.

So he was surprised when he—literally—ran into Singer as he was leaving headquarters one day.

"Singer." he drawled. "You know I could have you arrested for loitering, right?"

"I need to talk to Bridge." She was much more agitated this time than she had been the last time.

"He doesn't want to see you."

"I know that. I need to talk to him anyway."

"Why?"

"Because he needs to hear what…he told you my name is Singer?"

"Yeah. While he was telling me not to talk to you." Jack turned to go back into the building.

"Jack, please!" There was something very close to fear in her voice, and he found himself stopping without really thinking about it. "Please, just…ask him for me? It won't take long, he just needs to…"

"Whatever you guys used to be," Jack cut her off, "you clearly aren't anymore. Now you messed Bridge up but good the last time, you think I'm gonna let you do it again?"

"I didn't…" She trailed off, and Jack gestured impatiently. "Realize he hated me that much." she finished, in a very small voice.

"Yeah, well, apparently he does. So you can just go on about your merry way. I'm not going to push him to see you."

"You'll regret it." Singer warned him. Jack rolled his eyes, turning to the guard on the door.

"Escort her off the premises, and make sure she doesn't come back, understand?"

"Yes sir." the guard agreed, coming to stand beside Singer. She glanced disinterestedly at him before turning and leaving.

* * *

"You're back early." Z said in surprise when he came in.

"Forgot…something. Bridge, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Bridge, standing on his head against the wall, twisted towards him, caught sight of his face, and fell over.

"Hey…!" Sky ducked out of his way, catching him as best he could. Despite his best efforts, however, Bridge's head bounced off the floor hard enough to startle gasps from the girls.

"Ow." Bridge said dizzily. "Jack, what'd she say?"

"What?" Jack said in surprise.

Bridge sat upright with Sky's help. "You talked to Joanne. I can…" he gestured vaguely. "See it."

"I talked to Singer." Jack's voice was lost under a chorus of "What? She's still around?" "What are you talking about?" and "Did you hit your head?"

"Guys." Jack raised his voice, and they fell silent. "You Ok?" he continued, looking at Bridge.

"Yeah. What'd she say?"

"I talked to Singer." he repeated.

"That's Joanne. Singer's what I used to…what did she say?"

"That she wants to talk to you."

"That's it?"

"That you needed to hear her, and we'd regret it…blah blah blah." Jack crouched in front of him. "Who is she, Bridge?"

"She's…she used to work for my parents. Where is she?"

"She left. I don't know. Why?"

"Because it probably is important." He went to stand up, and everyone reacted at once, pushing him back into a seated position. "Guys, I'm fine."

"Stay." Jack said firmly. Glancing around, he caught the nearest cadet's eye and added, "A doctor."

"Aye." she said quickly, hurrying away.

"I don't need a doctor! I fell over!" Bridge protested.

He kept protesting until the doctor arrived, and then he complained all through the exam, and then snarked at everyone when he was told to stay in his quarters for the rest of the day. The others gathered in the rec room after he'd all but physically thrown them out.

"This girl is messing him up." Jack muttered, glaring angrily at a passing cadet.

"He definitely seemed…" Z blanked, looking at Syd for help.

"He's never been like that. Not ever." Syd's eyes were wide and she was clutching a cushion tightly.

Jack considered her for a moment before turning around. "Anyone who's not B Squad, out!"

There was some grumbling, but the cadets left quickly.

"Cruger won't like that." Sky noted.

"Don't much care right now." Jack said firmly. "Look, you two know Bridge the best. Are we more worried about him meeting Joanne or not?"

Sky and Syd shared a dismayed look. "Bridge is never like this." Syd repeated, sliding down a little further on the couch. "He's not…he's just not."

"She's right." Sky agreed. "He doesn't talk much about his parents. Whoever Singer—Joanne—is…" he trailed off, shrugging.

"She was waiting for me." Jack murmured. "Or for one of us, anyway. And she knew my name."

"She knew your name." Z repeated, frowning. "That's not good. Bridge wasn't talking to her for more than a minute, and she couldn't have got it anywhere else."

"Maybe she knows someone in here." Syd suggested hopefully.

"Then why's she lurking around for one of us? Why not have her friend talk to Bridge for her?" Jack shook his head. "No. There's something else. I'm going to see if I can find her."

"I'll come with." Z said immediately.

"You guys distract Bridge. Watch a movie or something. Don't tell him where we are."

Sky nodded, glancing at Syd. The Pink Ranger only clutched her cushion tighter.

"We'll handle it." Sky promised Jack.

Outside, Bridge shoved away from the wall he'd been leaning against and headed back to his room.


	2. In which no one finds out anything

Author's note: Hey guys!

Rabid.squirrels.from.hell: Thanks for following me, and thanks for your comments. Enjoy.

Islandgurlie12: Fast enough for you?

Daydream1: Not finding anything out today...(whistles innocently) The answers will come. Promise.

And my anonymous reviewer: Thank you.

_In which no one finds out anything, and there's a fight._

When Sky opened the door to his room Bridge was on the 'comm; he blanked the transmission as soon as he registered Sky.

"Who're you calling?" Sky asked curiously.

"No one. I need a few minutes."

"To talk to no one?"

Bridge laughed unconvincingly. "Did I say no one? I just meant no one you know. At least I don't think you know them. I suppose it's possible you may have met them, although it certainly hasn't happened while we've both been training and I don't ever remember meeting you before that, so I can't see when…"

"All right." Sky interrupted him. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes; Syd's got some old movie she wants us to see. Star Crossed Lovers, or something?"

"Ok." Bridge agreed, still smiling. Sky closed the door and Bridge turned back to the comm, opening the transmission again to reveal a man in his sixties. "Can't you call her back?" he said, not bothering to apologize.

"You know as well as I do, the only way to make her go away is listen to her. No one said you had to do anything about it. Just let her say her piece."

"You're not helping."

"I'm not trying to help." His voice softened. "You know she didn't mean it. Just let her talk to you."

"No." Bridge snarled, cutting the transmission and deactivating the screen.

Sky was lounging outside when Bridge opened the door, and he straightened automatically. "I checked with the doctor, and it's Ok for you to watch the movie in the rec room if you don't overdo it and promise to stop if you get a headache."

"Good. Thanks." Bridge attempted a smile, but it wasn't very successful.

"Bridge." Sky caught his arm, studying him intently. "You know we wanna help you, right?"

"I know." Bridge agreed. "But there's nothing to worry about."

"You gave yourself a concussion just from knowing Jack had talked to her. There's something to worry about."

"No. There's nothing."

"Bridge…"

"Sky. Let's see the movie."

* * *

"Jack, do you have any idea where to look?" Z asked.

"No." Jack said absently. "We're just looking."

"We could ask Piggy." she suggested.

"No. She's worried enough that she'll find us. We just need to be visible."

"Jack!"

Jack turned to see Z had stopped walking and was glaring at him. "What?"

Sighing, she caught back up to him. "What's got you so distracted?"

"Can't figure out how she knew my name, is all." He threw an arm around Z's shoulder, affecting a swagger. "Guess I'm just getting famous."

"Infamous, maybe." Z shrugged his arm off, gesturing past him. "And there she is."

Joanne was hurrying towards them, obviously rattled. "Jack…"

"Let me guess." he interrupted her. "You want to talk to Bridge."

"You were looking for me." she pointed out. "Will he see me?"

"He thinks it's important." Z said. "Why do you need to talk to him so bad?"

"I know something he needs to know."

"So tell us and we'll pass it on."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because if I tell you you'll assume I'm working for whatever the hell his name is who keeps attacking you, and I don't have time to talk myself out of your brig, so can you please just ask Bridge to meet me!"

"Well now I definitely think you're working for him." Jack drawled.

"Gruumm's an idiot. He's doomed to failure. Are you going to talk to Bridge or not?"

"Jack…" Z said warningly.

"Yeah." Jack agreed, easing back a step. Joanne rolled her eyes but stayed exactly where she was, holding her hands out away from her body.

"Look. I need to talk to Bridge. Can you please just get him on those neat little communicator thingies and ask him to come down here? Please?"

"What is it you're so afraid of?" Z asked suddenly.

"Bridge's death." Joanne said softly.

* * *

Bridge was thoroughly fed up at this point; he'd begged off the movie halfway through, so Syd and Sky had relocated to his room to play cards with him until he felt better. Every time he so much as moved, one or both asked if he was Ok, did he want anything, were they being too loud for him…

"Maybe we should call it a night." he suggested finally, dropping his cards and concentrating fiercely on not babbling.

"Do you feel Ok?" Syd asked predictably. "No headache or anything?"

"I'm _tired,_ and it's more than six hours and they said I could sleep after six hours, if I didn't sleep for too long, and since you're both here you could wake me and then I wouldn't die or anything." He ran out of steam and stopped, staring at them.

"Well..." Syd glanced at Sky. "Sure, if you think…"

The sirens went off, and Bridge flinched. "Ow."

"_SPD emergency. Rangers to the command center." _Kat said over the intercomm.

"Sorry, Bridge." Syd said sympathetically. "Maybe later?"

"Sure." Bridge rolled off the bed, grimacing again. "Do they have to make those so loud?"

"They're sirens, Bridge." Sky reminded him, tossing him his jacket. "Come on."

* * *

"Where are Jack and Z?" Cruger asked when they reached the command center.

"They went into the city, sir." Syd said.

"With Cadet Carson injured?"

Bridge settled on the nearest seat. "I'm fine, sir."

"Of course you are." Cruger agreed neutrally.

Kat glanced up. "Sir, I have Jack and Z on comm."

"Good. There is an alien in the city. It seems to be targeting populated areas."

"We're on the way, sir." Sky said quickly. "Jack, we'll meet you there."

"Yeah." Jack agreed distractedly. "See you there."

Sky and Syd saluted Cruger; Bridge waved an approximation of the salute before following them out.

* * *

"You don't go anywhere." Jack warned Joanne. "We're coming back."

Joanne settled herself on a low wall nearby. "Bring Bridge with you next time."

Jack spared a second to glare at her before looking at Z. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"SPD! Emergency!"

* * *

Z thought she could do these battles in her sleep by now. Taunt, taunt, fight some Krybots, taunt, fight the alien, taunt, watch him grow or find a robot, be taunted, call the zords and blast him back into space. This one was no different and they handled it easily.

"You guys want to head back to headquarters?" Jack said. "Z and me got to finish something."

"Cruger'll want your report." Sky reminded him. "Why don't you just come back out?"

"It's important."

"So's your report."

"My report will…"

"She'll wait for you." Bridge interrupted.

"What?"

"Singer. She'll wait for you." Bridge left his zord, demorphing as he hit the ground, and the others followed.

"What are you talking about?" Jack demanded.

"You were talking to her, _again._ I still know, Jack, that's twice."

"We're worried about you." Z said softly.

"I keep telling you I'm fine!" He turned in a circle, glaring at Syd when she made to approach him. "Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you're not acting fine." Jack said firmly. "Now let us take you home, and we can talk about this once the doctors have cleared you, Ok?"

"I'm fine." Bridge repeated. "I just don't want to talk to Singer, is all."

"You don't have to." Syd pointed out.

"She's not going away!" Bridge backed up as Sky reached out to him. "She won't until I talk to her."

"Bridge…" Jack glanced helplessly at Z.

"My head hurts." Bridge murmured.

And then he fell.


	3. In which the plot thickens

Author's note: Hey! Thanks to my reviewers:

Boxer Thief: hope this was fast enough for you.

Rabid: (Waves)

In which the plot thickens, and we hear an angsty story full of angst from Bridge's angst-filled angsty past full of angst. Did I mention there's angst?

Joanne was suddenly there: Sky would have sworn she was nowhere in sight a moment before, but she was on her knees beside Bridge before any of them had reacted.

Sky snatched at his communicator, paging Kat and watching as Jack hauled Joanne out of the way to let Z and Syd at Bridge. Joanne was yelling, fighting desperately to get to Bridge, and after a moment Z duplicated herself to help Jack hold her back.

"We're on the way." Kat told him, and he snapped the communicator closed and joined Jack, letting Z recall her duplicates.

"You don't understand." Joanne had stopped fighting and was standing passively in Jack's grip. "I knew you wouldn't."

"You knew this would happen?" Jack demanded.

"I tried to warn him." she protested. "No one could stop this but only Bridge, and he wouldn't hear me."

"You knew and you didn't warn us?"

Sky glanced away momentarily as the SPD ambulance arrived. Z and Syd rose to help the techs, and he turned his attention back to Jack and Joanne.

"I didn't know when. And Bridge wouldn't hear me. I tried to see him, you know I did."

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Jack demanded. Z and Syd came to flank him as the techs loaded Bridge into the ambulance.

"Right." Joanne agreed bitterly. "Because you'd really have believed I was innocent if I'd warned you Bridge was about to be attacked."

"Nobody attacked him." Syd pointed out. "This is just from the concussion earlier."

"No one attacked his body, no. Bridge is being attacked psychically."

"No." Sky said firmly. "Gruumm's aliens can't lock onto human brainwaves. Kat checked it out."

"It isn't one of Gruumm's, it's one of Broodwing's." Joanne murmured.

"Sir!" The driver leaned out to yell at them. "We have to go!"

"Coming." Jack shoved Joanne at Sky. "We'll deal with you later."

"Aye." she muttered. "Sir."

* * *

When they reached headquarters Sky turned her over to C Squad with orders to take her somewhere out of the way and keep her there. The others had already reached the infirmary when he caught up with them, gathered in a nervous clump watching Cruger and Kat confer over the bed. Bridge looked odd, too small and too pale.

Kat glanced distractedly at them as he slipped into place at Jack's shoulder. "His mind's been completely overwhelmed." she told them.

"So he's being attacked psychically." Sky said slowly.

"Yes. Whoever—whatever—is doing this is sending huge amounts of information directly to Bridge's mind. He can't cope with the volume and his brain's shut down to protect itself."

"She knew." Jack said angrily. "She must have had something to do with it. She said it to Z and me."

"She can't have done it." Z reminded him. "She wasn't anywhere near Bridge. Not for weeks."

"Cadets!" Cruger said sharply. "To whom are you referring?"

They exchanged quick glances before Jack stepped forward. "There's a woman who's been trying to see Bridge for the past few weeks, sir. He doesn't want to see her and we've been running interference for him. Earlier today she claimed she knew something was going to happen to him."

"Who is this woman, and where is she now?" Kat asked.

"C Squad have her." Sky told her. "Her name's Joanne, and she used to work for Bridge's parents."

"And you believe she is involved in this?" Cruger glanced at Kat as he spoke.

"Yes sir I do." Jack said quickly, pre-empting Z. "She all but admitted it to Sky and me."

"Is that true, Cadet Tate?"

Sky thought quickly. "She told us she knew something would happen, but not when, and that one of Broodwing's contacts is responsible. But she also claims to be innocent. She made several attempts to see Bridge, but none of them succeeded until after he'd already collapsed."

"Except the first one." Jack added.

"They spoke for twenty seconds, Jack, and Bridge spent most of that time walking away from her." Z reminded him.

"And if she'd done something then, why keep trying?" Sky added.

"So you think she is innocent?" Cruger asked.

"No, sir." Z said reluctantly. "I don't think she caused this, but she knows something and she's not talking."

"Very well. Kat?"

Kat glanced up from her scanner. "Bridge is stable for now, and there's nothing we can do until I analyze the scans. I'll go and talk to her."

"You know who she is." Sky said suddenly, looking from Cruger to Kat and back again. "You know what's happening."

"That is none of your concern, Cadet." Cruger said in his 'command' tone.

"Did she do it, sir?" Jack demanded, murder clear in his expression.

"I do not believe so. But that is why Kat is going to talk with her."

Kat took that as her cue, triggering the PA to say "C Squad, report your position please." After a moment they called in and she left. Cruger followed her, pausing the doorway to say quietly, "B Squad, you are excused from all training exercises for the immediate future."

"Thank you, sir." Jack said quietly.

Syd looked up from her death-grip on Bridge's hand. "Where are they going?" she asked disinterestedly.

Z exchanged glances with Jack before saying gently, "Come on. Let's go get something to eat."

Syd shook her head. "But…Bridge."

"He's Ok for now. Come on, you need to eat."

"Go on, Syd." Jack added, making it almost a command. "We'll call you, anything changes, Ok? I promise."

"Ok." she agreed reluctantly.

"We'll bring you back something." Z said quietly, steering Syd out of the room.

Sky settled himself into a chair beside the bed. Jack wandered over to lean against the wall, giving him as much space as he could without leaving the room.

"Anything like this ever happen before?" he asked after a while.

Sky didn't react for a moment. When he did speak, his voice was oddly flat. "A while before you came, we had a D level cadet who liked to pull practical jokes. Her squad had already disowned her, the crew was ready to riot, and she decided to try one more. So she snuck into Bridge's room one night and stole his gloves."

"Surely he had more than one pair." Jack protested.

"He'd ripped the others in training. Everyone in the rec room heard him complain about it."

"Ok." Jack said slowly. "So this D level made off with Bridge's gloves."

"Bridge freaked." Sky was still speaking in a monotone, as though he was totally unconnected. "He wouldn't leave his room, didn't even get out of bed. Syd kept him company while I went after D squad, but they'd left for a training exercise. So I went to Kat instead." Catching the look on Jack's face he added defensively, "I had to. Bridge wasn't eating, he wouldn't even talk to us."

"I'd have gone to her first thing." Jack agreed. "What'd she do?"

"Brought him about ten pairs of those plastic gloves from the labs. And then told Cruger."

* * *

"Cruger was really angry." Syd said, stirring her soup listlessly. "He said it was the worst kind of bullying, and that he wasn't having it in SPD. He recalled D Squad to 'deal with an emergency.' When they get back he called everyone together and told them something terrible had happened on-base, that a cadet had been subjected to an attack that left him too ill to perform his duties or even leave his room." She gestured vaguely: Z pushed her soup back in front of her again. "He said it was unacceptable, especially coming from a fellow cadet. And then he asked D Squad to step forward."

Z waited patiently for her to continue, but Syd seemed to have forgotten they were talking, staring moodily at her bowl. "So what happened?" she prompted her finally.

"What? Oh…she wouldn't confess. Everyone knew she'd done it, including her own team, but she didn't confess, so Cruger flunked her out of the Academy in front of everyone."

"Way to go Cruger." Z said, impressed. "And…that's the only time?"

Syd shrugged, pushing her plate away. "Yeah. He gets headaches, sometimes. But that's it."

"He'll be Ok." Z said quietly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Syd shuddered, burying her head in her hands without answering.


	4. in which we almost get answers

Author's notes: Hey, Kikos and rabid.squirrel, glad you're enjoying.

In which we get something that could pass for answers, frokm far away, in a bad light, and...not much else happens, now that I think about it...

C Squad, unsure of what to do, had ended up taking Joanne to an empty storeroom. They were gathered around the door, while she had settled herself on the floor at the very back and lowered her head onto her knees.

Kat dismissed the squad to stand guard outside and considered Joanne for a long moment. "Joanne." she said finally.

"That's me." Joanne lifted her head, watching Kat with too-bright eyes.

"Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"My name is Dr Kat Manx."

"The scientist." Joanne murmured. "I remember. We met before, I think."

"Yes." Kat agreed.

"How is Bridge?" Joanne asked, leaning back.

"Stable." Kat considered her for a moment. "You know Jack thinks you did this."

"Jack's just taking it out on me. If I wasn't here he and Sky would be at each other's throats by now."

"You're saying you had nothing to do with this?"

"That's what I'm saying." Joanne pressed her hands against the wall, levering herself up to stand.

"But you knew it would happen."

"Yeah. And I tried to warn him. Ask the Rangers, ask Jack. I tried so hard to warn him it was coming."

"How did you know?" Kat asked. Joanne shook her head, looking away, and Kat added, "You know what this looks like."

"I'm not working for Gruumm. Nor Broodwing. I don't expect you to believe it, but it's true."

"Then explain to me." Kat insisted.

"Bring Jack. And I'll explain what I can."

"Why?"

"Because Jack hates me. And he loves Bridge. So let him hear me explain, and then let him decide."

"It doesn't work that way." Kat pointed out. "Jack is a B level cadet, he doesn't get to make decisions like that."

"You know who I am." Joanne reminded her. "You were here ten years ago. Most of my story is Bridge's story and I can't tell you those parts."

Kat considered her for a long moment before abruptly turning to leave. Outside, she headed back to the infirmary, contacting Boom along the way.

* * *

Jack and Sky had been sitting in silence for some time when Kat and Boom arrived; Boom, unusually astute, just went quietly to check the readouts. Kat took Jack quietly to one side.

"She'll talk to me if you come." she explained.

"What?"

"Only then. Jack, I know who she is. But we need to find out how she knew about Bridge."

"You don't think she did it?"

"No."

Jack nodded slowly. "Tell Boom to stay with Sky, then, or get the girls back here."

"Already done." Kat promised.

"Ok then." To Sky, he added, "Sky, I gotta go do something. I won't be long."

Sky ignored him, and Jack shrugged faintly before turning to Kat. "Ok."

* * *

Joanne was sitting on the floor again when they arrived, and she didn't bother to rise. "Hi Jack."

"See they put you in the nicest room." he commented.

"Join SPD, see the world." she agreed.

"So. How'd you know?"

"Because I always know." she said, somewhat bitterly. "It…you guys have your powers because of the accident, right? The one here."

"Yeah." Jack said slowly, looking at Kat.

"I worked for Bridge's parents, Jack, I know about the accident. But you…there are other ways for people to have powers. You understand that?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know where I got mine. I've always had them, I guess, I don't remember not."

"And what are they, exactly?"

Joanne rose to her feet, eyes narrowing. "Ask me a question."

"What?"

"Something I can't possibly know. Ask me."

Jack glanced back at Kat, frowning. "A question."

"Sky's father was a Ranger." Kat said. "What color?"

"Red." Joanne answered promptly.

"What's Syd's stuffed toy called?" Jack asked.

"Peanuts."

"When's my birthday?" he added.

"You don't know. You're sharing Syd's. But you were born on August 11th."

"Huh." He took a step back, stopping beside Kat. "Right."

"I always know the truth. Always. Even if you don't know it."

"That's not even possible." Jack protested.

"Nor is phasing through things, making forcefields with your brain, duplicating yourself…want me to go on? The truth's tangible, Jack. People have fought, killed and died for it; it's brought down kings and raised beggars."

"You expect us to believe this?"

"I can't answer a question falsely. Ask me whatever you want…or use those judgment things. I know you have them." She tilted her head. "I saw Bridge for a couple of seconds three weeks ago. You know I've not seen him since. If I'd done something to him then why would I stick around?"

"That's what Sky said." Jack muttered. "All right, so who is doing it?"

"A guy Broodwing knows. It's mechanical output, it's not going to stop or ease off. Not unless you stop it."

"Where are they?" Kat asked.

Joanne shuddered. "Docks. East docks. Um…" She reeled off an address, which Kat quickly wrote down.

"Ok. You know everything?" Jack asked.

"I know what I'm asked. Or what I ask you, sometimes. Usually what I'm asked."

"Are we going to win?"

"But I can't tell the future." she added.

"Alright." Kat studied her. "You know we can't let you leave."

"Can you let me leave the storeroom? The chemical smell's giving me a headache."

"Yeah. That we can do." Jack agreed. Opening the door, he picked a C squad cadet at random and told him, "Take Joanne to guest quarters. Two of you on guard at all times and none of you talk about her, to anyone, understood?"

"Aye sir." the cadet agreed promptly, glancing at another member of the squad.

"Thank you." Joanne said gratefully, following him out. She paused in the corridor to look back, however, and asked quietly, "Can I see Bridge?"

"Not right now." Kat said. "Maybe later."

"Alright. Thank you." She followed the cadets down the hall.

"You believe her?" Jack asked, once she was out of view.

"You don't?"

"Sky was right. You do know who she is."

"Yes. We met, briefly. It was a long time ago."

Jack looked back down the corridor. "She didn't do it?"

"No. She didn't."

* * *

They'd reached the infirmary again before Kat's scans came back. Syd and Z had come back from the rec room; Z was lounging near the back of the room, and Sky and Syd sat one on each side of the bed. Boom was nowhere in sight.

"Jack." Kat said suddenly, and Jack glanced up, coming to join her at the door. "I'm getting some weird readings from the east docks."

"Weird like hiding a machine weird?"

"Maybe. Go check it out."

"Yes Ma'am. Z?" he added over his shoulder.

"You're not taking the team?" Kat asked as Z joined them.

"Taking us where?"

"Little mission. Just big enough for two." To Kat, he added, "Let them stay with Bridge. If we need backup, we'll call." Kat nodded, turning away, and Jack looked at Z. "You don't mind? I know you guys are friends, but they've known him so much longer. They're taking this pretty hard."

"It's fine." Z agreed. "What's the mission?"

Jack headed down the corridor as he answered. "There's something mechanical doing this. Kat's getting weird readings from the east docks, so we're going to check it out."

"What about Joanne?" Z asked. Jack glanced at her, and she added, "Sky told us where you went."

"Joanne didn't have anything to do with it, only that she knew it was coming." Jack said shortly.

"How did she know?"

"Beats me." Catching Z's look, he shrugged. "I don't know. She said a bunch of stuff about always knowing the truth. All that matters is Kat believed her. You Ok to drive?"

Z glanced at the Jeep, nodding. "Yeah. I'm Ok."

* * *

It was odd that Bridge was so restless, Sky thought. Usually he slept deeply and unmoving, and Sky often had to wake him in the morning. But now, even sedated, Bridge was restless, shifting and moving in his sleep.

It was almost a relief when Kat came to stand at the foot of the bed. "Rangers. Jack and Z need your help."

Sky rose to his feet, glancing back at Syd. "Syd?"

"Coming."

She didn't move, and he turned his attention back to Kat. "What's the situation?"

"They were investigating some strange readings at the docks. According to Jack, there are Krybots protecting some kind of machine. We want the machine destroyed."

"Destroyed." Sky repeated, glancing at Syd. The Pink Ranger still hadn't moved, though she was listening to them.

"We have reason to believe whatever they're protecting is what's affecting Bridge. Destroy it, and he should return to normal."

"Yes Ma'am." Sky saluted, turning to Syd again. "Syd…" he said gently.

"Coming." This time she rose, squeezing Bridge's hand once before joining Sky.

* * *

Kat headed for the guest quarters Joanne was sequestered in. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring vaguely at the nearest wall. Her current C Squad escort were sitting near the door, talking quietly and keeping an eye on her.

"Has there been any trouble?" Kat asked them. Joanne glanced up, smiling slightly, but she didn't say anything.

"No ma'am. She asked for extra blankets a while ago. We sent someone to find some for her. That's all."

"Thank you. Wait outside, please."

Joanne rose from the bed as her escort left. "Hi, Dr Manx."

"You cold?" Kat asked, frowning.

"A little. It's nothing. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"I thought you might like to see Bridge."

"Seriously?" Joanne said in surprise.

"The Rangers are gone to the docks. If you want to come and see him…"

"Yes please." Joanne interrupted. "Please."

"You know he's still not…"

"I know." she agreed, when Kat trailed off. "But he probably won't see me when he wakes up. I'd…yes please."

Kat smiled, turning to open the door. The cadets outside straightened to attention, and she told them, "We're going to the infirmary. Consider yourselves off duty until I notify you."

"Yes ma'am." the cadet agreed.

"Thank you." Joanne said quietly as she passed them.

"Thank them?" Kat repeated in mild surprise as they turned the corner.

"Of course. They were nice to me."

Kat halted her just outside the infirmary. "Bridge is sedated, but he's still very restless. And he looks ill. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Joanne hissed as they entered, eyes locked on Bridge. As though forgetting Kat was there she drifted forward, leaning against the side of the bed. "Oh, Bridge." she murmured. "Look what you did."

One hand slipped up to brush against his cheek. Bridge stilled as though recognizing her, and she smiled faintly. "Bridge, can I help you?" Her head tilted to one side, and she sighed. "That's what I thought."

"No?" Kat asked, watching her.

"No. I can't help." Catching Kat's look, she added, "There's no one can do what Bridge does. No one can stop this but only him."

"But you still asked?"

"Yeah, well, hope springs eternal, and all that." She settled carefully on the side of the bed, brushing a hand through Bridge's hair. "Your hair's so short, Bridge. When did that happen? You never used to wear it short like this."

"He knows you." Kat noted.

"If he was awake he'd be ignoring me for all he was worth."

"He used to love you." Kat said softly.

"Yes, and then I betrayed him." Joanne agreed. "There's no blame on him, Kat, it's all mine. I betrayed him."

"You did the right thing."

"Try telling that to a nine year old. 'Yes, I broke my solemn promise to you, but it was the right thing to do, so it doesn't matter.'" She shook her head abruptly, pushing away from the bed. "Is there any chance I could get some food, Kat? I've not eaten in a while."

"Joanne…"

"Please." she interrupted. "If the Rangers do their job Bridge'll be waking up soon, and I shouldn't be what he sees first."

"Yeah." Kat agreed finally. "Let me call C Squad."

"Sure." Joanne settled herself beside the bed again as Kat turned to make the call.

When the C Squad leader came in, Joanne was talking quietly to Bridge, but she glanced up as soon as Kat called her name. Nodding, she squeezed his hand and rose to leave.

Bridge began moving restlessly again as soon as she was gone.


	5. in which Syd goes berserk

Author's note: Sorry, guys, I know I missed update last weekend, but here's two chapters to make up for it!

Hey, Chylea3784, thanks for the review!

In which Syd goes a bit berserk, and the plot thickens.

Jack and Z were waiting when Sky and Syd arrived. Sky glanced around the doorframe, taking in the scene at a glance before hunkering to join the others.

"That's the machine?" he asked. A large cube was pulsing in the center of the room, throwing odd shadows around the area.

"This is the address." Jack agreed.

"It's hurting Bridge?" Syd asked.

"Yeah. We think so." Jack said carefully.

Syd morphed in absolute silence, and the Pink Ranger's helmet tilted to look down at them. "Then why are we standing out here?"

"Wait." Jack said firmly, and she waited impatiently while they morphed.

Jack glanced at Sky, nodding slightly, and Sky fell into step with Syd. Jack and Z fell in behind them, spreading out as they entered the building.

The Krybots inside seemed surprised to see them, and they took advantage, destroying them in huge numbers. Still they didn't seem to be making any headway; Sky and Z found themselves more and more watching Syd's back, as the Pink Ranger was almost berserk.

"Jack, this isn't working!" Sky yelled, fending off two Krybots and shooting another that was coming up behind Syd.

"Ya think? I'm open for suggestions!" Jack hollered back.

Z took a blow meant for Syd and stumbled back, crashing into Sky. He steadied her automatically, eyeing the crowd around them. Jack fought his way across to them, clearing a space around Syd, who barely seemed to notice. She was firing steadily at the machine, taking absolutely no notice of anything around her and making absolutely no impact on it.

"Syd, stop!" Jack yanked her weapon out of her grip.

"It's hurting Bridge!" She snatched at it, but he held it away from her.

"You're not thinking straight. Help us get rid of the Krybots first, Ok?"

On cue, Sky crashed to the ground in front of them. Jack set himself to cover them, letting Syd help him to his feet. "You Ok?" Sky asked under cover of the movement.

"I think I'm supposed to ask you that."

"This is soooo touching." a new voice commented. "I just love this stuff."

"Morgana." Z snarled, backing automatically in line with the others.

"I want you to meet my new friend." she continued.

"We're sick of your friends!" Jack yelled. Quieter, he added, "Anyone see her?"

"Oh, but I think you'll like this one."

"There!" Sky pointed up. Morgana was perched on a beam above their heads. Automatically, the Rangers backed out of her range, though Syd grunted in frustration as they moved away from the machine.

"I brought him specially for you guys." Morgana continued, rising to her feet. It put her mostly in shadow, and they couldn't really see her as she continued, "I was hoping you'd show."

"You could have just called." Z teased. Behind her, Jack was slipping silently away, trying to move behind Morgana without being seen. "You didn't have to lay on such a big welcome."

"I like to make you feel appreciated." Morgana smirked.

"Well, it's working!" Jack fired at her from behind and she crashed down, landing amidst a cloud of dust.

When it cleared she was back on her feet and surrounded by Krybots. "That wasn't very nice." she pouted. "Here I went to all the trouble of making you a friend to play with…"

"That line didn't work on Sam, it's not going to work on us." Z said firmly.

Morgana shrugged. "Worth a try. Attack!"

An alien appeared to lead the attack as Morgana vanished. B Squad squared off, ready to fight.

* * *

Ten minutes later, when the alien made it to a robot, they finally admitted they were in trouble.

"Kat!" Jack called. "We need some help out here."

"Shadow and Omega are on their way." Kat said. "And the Runners are coming, but you won't be able to form the Megazord."

"All right. Ready, Rangers?"

"Ready!" they chorused, jumping for the Runners.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the Runners ejected them and headed back towards the base. The Rangers demorphed involuntarily, landing a short distance from the fight.

"Rangers!" Shadow called. "What's going on?"

"Beats me sir!" Jack glanced at the others. "Anyone do that?" At their headshakes, he added, "We didn't trigger it, sir. Kat must have done it."

"Kat? Kat!" They could hear Shadow and Omega calling the base, but no one was answering. "Something's wrong." Shadow said finally. "Rangers, head back to base and see what's going on. Omega and I will finish up here and join you as soon as we can."

"Aye sir." Jack agreed, looking around at the others. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready." they agreed.

Jack took a step closer to Syd. "Syd?"

She raised her eyes to meet his. "Yes."

"Ready?"

She smiled then, calmer now; during the fight they'd managed to step on the machine, crushing it to bits. "Ready."

"Good." He grinned at her again before turning to the others. "Let's go!"

They made it back to base in about seven minutes flat, regrouping half a block away. From here it looked almost normal, but there was no one outside, no guards on the doors.

"Ok." Jack said after studying the building for a moment. "We're going to split up. You guys go in the front; it doesn't look like there's anyone on guard, so you should be Ok. Find Bridge and get to the Command Center. Z'n I'll find another way in and meet you there."

"You sure?" Sky asked.

"Yeah. We'll meet you there. Come on, Z." The two headed off at a run, and Sky gave them five minutes before he and Syd moved.

The lobby was empty, and they made it up two floors before meeting any resistance. The Krybots were surprised to see them, and they were destroyed before they managed to raise any kind of alarm.

Two more floors and three groups of Krybots brought them to the infirmary, where a BlueHead was conducting a search. Sky watched through a gap in the door-frame for a moment before backing up.

"Bridge isn't here, and they don't have him." he told Syd. "There's a BlueHead in there searching, we need to morph right now."


	6. in which there's fighting

In which there's fighting, and...um...well, there's fighting...

On the other side of the building Jack and Z had reached the Command Center—or almost, anyway. They were currently holed up in a utility closet two corridors over, hiding from the Krybots roaming the halls.

"Not good." Jack muttered, shoving a mop out of the way and leaning against the wall. "They've isolated the Command Center."

"Jack, have you seen any of our people?" Z asked. "I've only seen aliens and Krybots."

"Yeah? And?"

"They must have our people somewhere. I'm thinking we should go look for backup."

"Yeah." Jack nodded. "Yeah, Ok. Let's head down to the Labs—there's a weapons locker down there, and we can check the security feeds, find out where our guys are." He poked his head out through the door, checking for onlookers before stepping out fully and opening the door for Z.

The labs were deserted when they reached them, and Z quickly began calling up the security feeds. Jack paced back and forth between the doors, watching for intruders.

"Ok." Z said finally, and Jack abandoned his pacing to stand behind her shoulder, watching. "Looks like there's a bunch out in the training field, including D Squad. Some in the lower level rec room, and some in the mess hall."

Jack winced. His status as an upper-level cadet meant he could use the 'Synth in the upper level rec room instead of the mess, but he'd heard the cadets complain about it often enough. "Poor kids." he muttered. "Can you do a head count?"

Z shot him a 'you must be crazy' look. "It's about right. I can't find C Squad, Kat or Boom anywhere."

"What about the infirmary?"

"Sky and Syd are there, but no Bridge. I can't find him, either."

"They alone?"

"They are now."

Jack raised an eyebrow at the trashed infirmary and the BlueHead in at least three parts, but all he said was "Sky? Syd?"

On the screen, Sky's head tilted. "Yes?"

"What's going on?"

"They don't have Bridge. But we can't find him either."

"Ok." Jack took two breaths. "I need you guys to head out to the practice field. D squad and a bunch of mid-level cadets are being held out there."

"We're on it…any sign of Bridge?" Z glanced up from the screen, shaking her head.

"No. Kat's missing, too, and Boom, C Squad…" his tone altered as he finished, "…and Joanne. They're probably holed up somewhere planning something."

"We'll call you when the cadets are free." Sky said, cutting the transmission. On the screen, Syd waved at the camera before following him out.

"Z, can you handle the rec room?"

"Sure." Z agreed. Catching Jack's arm as he turned to leave, she added, "Be _careful,_ brother."

"Always." He grinned at her.

Z's grip tightened suddenly and he looked back in surprise. She was staring at the wall, where some very odd noises had started.

"What is that?" Jack muttered, taking a step towards it. Z skipped to her feet, moving around the lab in the other direction.

A panel flew off the wall and someone crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust. Jack jumped on it from behind, Z piled on from the front, and for a long minute no one was sure what was happening.

"Jack. Jack! It's Boom." Z yelled, tugging at Jack's fist. Jack let him go, scooting backwards and letting go of Z's arm.

"Sorry, Boom. You Ok?"

Boom brushed himself off, sitting up awkwardly. "Yeah. I'm good."

"Do you know what's happening?"

"Know? I've been…" Boom stopped suddenly.

"What happened?" Jack prodded.

"Just after Kat sent the Runners Morgana teleported in with a bunch of Krybots, right into the Command Center. With Commander Cruger and Omega Ranger gone we didn't have a chance. They were all over the base, all the cadets were caught…" He trailed off.

"Boom, what about Bridge? And Kat?"

Boom shivered, looking away. "Kat and Joanne were with Bridge. Morgana came looking…she dragged them up to Command and tried to make them tell her how to run it. How to transform to the Delta Base."

Jack met Z's eyes over Boom's head. _Shock,_ Z mouthed, and he nodded.

"What happened?"

"Bridge was awake, more or less, and he wouldn't tell. Kat was…she didn't tell either…Joanne helped them, in the end."

"She…Joanne helped them?" Z demanded.

Boom shook his head urgently. "Not what you're thinking. She let them hurt her, she didn't say anything, but when Morgana hurt Bridge…Joanne promised then, to stop her."

"Joanne doesn't know anything." Z protested. "She's not even SPD. Why would Morgana even…"

"She was wearing Kat's uniform." Boom laughed, high pitched and almost hysterical. "Someone spilled on her in the mess and Cruger wouldn't let her leave. Kat gave her a spare uniform…Morgana thought she was a tech."

"But she doesn't know anything. She couldn't have told Morgana how it works." Z repeated.

"She could if she was asked." Jack realized suddenly. "Boom, what happened?"

"Um…" Boom winced, concentrating. "Joanne went to the controls, to switch the Base over, and then she looked back at Kat and Bridge and said, 'You understand why? What do I need?' and then all the lights went off and the sprinklers and alarms started and when the lights came back they were gone, all three, and all the consoles were shut down."

"Kat fed her the codes." Jack grinned. "She'd have seen her way out…"

"Where were you?" Z interrupted him, and he looked down at Boom. "Boom, where were you?"

Boom didn't answer, looking away, and Jack caught Z's eye and shook his head. "Boom, we have to go. The cadets are being held and we need to go get them. Will you stay here?"

"Sure." Boom waved them off.

"Don't touch anything, Ok? Just wait here until we call you."

Boom laughed again. Definitely hysterical, Jack thought with a sigh. "Oh no, I'd break it anyway. I'll just sit."

"Boom. You did good. Ok? Kat's free, somewhere."

"I hid." Boom suddenly met his eyes, deadly calm. "I was in Command, I saw them, I hid. Snuck into the wall. I could hear them, Joanne and Bridge…and I hid. Didn't move."

"That's smart." Jack told him. "Not a help if you get yourself killed. It's smart to hide."

"You're not hiding."

"I'm not on my own, either. Look, Boom, we have to go. Can you monitor the security cameras, warn us if we're going to be ambushed?"

"Yeah." Boom looked at the screen. "I can do that."

"Good man." Jack said it as warmly as he could. "Don't go anywhere, Ok? We can't call you unless you're here."

"No, I'll…I won't move."

"Good. You see Kat or the others give a holler. Z, you ready?"

"Yeah." She smiled at Boom as they left.

"Poor kid." she murmured, once the door was locked.

"Worry about him later. We got fights of our own to take care of." Jack advised her. "Good luck."

"Be careful."

* * *

D Squad was already fighting when Sky and Syd arrived at the practice field. Two of them were down, and the others were clearly losing. Sky and Syd exchanged quick glances before charging into the fray, morphing as they went and rallying the squad.

Within moments the Krybots were motionless on the ground and Sky and Syd demorphed. "Anyone injured?" Sky asked.

"Two before the fight." D Squad's leader gestured to four cadets huddled protectively a safe distance from the fight.

"Anyone else?"

Another cadet raised her hand and someone went to check her out.

"The infirmary's clear." Syd was telling D Squad's leader. "Take your people there and barricade it."

"Aye sir."

Sky had pulled out his communicator. "Jack?"

"Not a good time!" Behind his voice they could hear fighting; from the sound of it he was in the middle of a major riot.

"Jack, where are you?" he demanded.

"Mess hall—hiyah!" The communicator clattered and his voice was suddenly much further away.

Sky gestured to Syd, who clicked her communicator open. "Z, where are you?"

"About to launch an attack." she said breathlessly a moment later. "If you don't give me away first, anyway."

"Where are you?" Sky asked. Jack had apparently managed to get his hands on his communicator again, but he was too busy to use it.

"Lower level rec room. Why?"

"Jack's in trouble."

"Damn." Z cursed softly. "You guys done?"

"We have D Squad and approximately thirty other cadets here. I'm sending D Squad to you. We'll go and help Jack."

"Ok. I'm in…"

"Guys!" Jack interrupted. "They're listening in to the communicators!"

Sky snapped his shut, gesturing to Syd who closed hers as well. "Cadet Browne, you have field command of D Squad under Cadet Delgardo, understood? Go! Who's taking the injured to the infirmary? Remember, no communicators! Everyone else, with me!"


	7. In which there's more fighting

Author's note: shorter this time, sorry. Thanks, Chylea; I'm glad you can follow what's going on.

In which there's a bit more fighting

Zintercepted D Squad two corridors away from the rec room. "They know we're coming." she told them. "So we have to do this fast, and we have to do it right. There's no time for mistakes."

"What's the plan?" Cadet Browne asked.

"I'm gonna confuse them a bit." Z explained.

A duplicate stepped up and continued, "Then you come in."

"Make sure the cadets are safe." another added.

"But don't be more then ten seconds behind me." the fourth finished.

"Yes ma'am!"

"All right. Let's go."

* * *

Jack was running on empty.

Alerted by Syd and Sky's success, security had been tightened around the captive cadets; Jack had literally run into the reinforcements and been forced to phase through the wall to get anywhere near the hostages.

About half the cadets were incapacitated. Several of the able bodied ones had joined Jack in fighting, but most were either protecting the injured or huddled around the walls, avoiding the fight as best they could.

Jack was mildly amused to realize that even while fighting, he was writing a mental list of the ones refusing to fight for the next lot of evaluations.

He became aware of Sky and Syd only when he ran out of things to hit; between them the Blue and Yellow Rangers were keeping him clear, giving him a chance to catch his breath.

"What's the situation?" he asked, kicking a Krybot that got past Sky's guard.

"Z and D Squad are…elsewhere. Is this it?"

"The last of our people, bar a few. C Squad's missing; we have last reported whereabouts for Kat, Bridge and Joanne, but they're not there now."

"Who told you?"

Jack caught his shoulder and jerked him back from a kick that would have taken his head off. "Boom."

"Duck." Syd ordered and he dropped, foot-sweeping another Krybot. "Where is he now?"

"Hiding." Jack surged back to his feet, looking around. "Is that it?"

Around the room, only cadets were on their feet. Jack relaxed, looking around. "Who's the highest ranking cadet here?" he asked.

There was a moment while everyone looked at everyone else, before a female cadet stepped forward. "Cadet Stuon, sir!"

"Cadet Stuon." Jack repeated. "We're taking five volunteers. I want you to barricade yourselves in here and do what you can for your wounded. You do not open that door without a command level code, understood?"

"Understood, sir!"

"Good. Where's my volunteers?"


	8. in whic Bridge finally shows back up

Author's note: Chylea, I'm running out of ways to say thanks!

Ok, soI miscounted when I started this. There's maybe five chapters left to go. Enjoy!

In which Bridge finally shows back up, and the fighting's pretty much over.

Z's fight was all but over when Jack and his reinforcements arrived. D Squad were flagging, though, struggling to protect the injured cadets here without leaving themselves open to attack, and the arrival of three Rangers and five almost-fresh fighters meant it was over in moments. Jack rapidly appointed a group leader and called for five more volunteers, meaning he was leading a team of fourteen to storm the Command Center.

"Rangers." Cruger's voice startled them, and Syd wondered absently how long it had been since they'd left Shadow and Omega outside. "What is your situation?"

"Sir, communications are not secure." Jack said quickly. "Recommend you do not approach, repeat do not approach. The base is under siege."

"Acknowledged." Cruger said after a moment. "Shadow Ranger is ready to assist you."

"Understood." Jack flipped the communicator closed, glancing around at the others. "So Sam's on his way."

"We can't wait." Sky warned them. "We need the Command Center cleared, now."

"Agreed." Jack turned to the leader-of-the-moment. "Barricade that door behind us, understood?"

"Aye, sir."

Jack's communicator went off again as they paused outside. "Jack."

"Kat!" He snatched at his morpher. "Good to hear your voice, but the communicators…"

"I've secured this line." She sounded oddly tired. "Jack, have you found Bridge?"

Jack froze, staring at the communicator, and Z leaned in to say, "We thought he was with you."

"We got separated." Kat didn't bother to question their knowledge. "They were going to head for the infirmary, but now they're not answering."

"They didn't get there." Sky said. "Syd and I found a Bluehead there instead."

"Kat, we're going to clear Command, then we can use the internal sensors to track him down. Where are you?" Jack asked.

"Lower level labs."

"Boom's on level six, lab three. He…"

"Is he all right?" Kat interrupted him.

"He's in shock, but he's not hurt. I have him watching the security feeds for us. Kat, we left most of the cadets in the mess hall; some of them are injured."

"Got it. I'll find Boom and we'll go make sure they're Ok."

"Be careful." Jack warned her. "And the cadets will want a command level code before they let you in."

"Got it."

Jack flipped off the communicator and glanced around. "All right, guys. One more fight. Are we ready?"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

C Squad met them a level below the Command Center. "Kat sent us." their leader told Jack hurriedly. "We'd found Boom; they're on their way to the mess now."

"We're expecting Morgana, possibly Broodwing, and an unknown number of Krybots." Jack told them.

"Try not to damage the consoles." Sky added. Z slapped him upside the head, and he glared at her. "What? They're expensive!"

Sam materialized beside them, glancing around at everyone. "Are we ready?"

"You know what's happening?" Jack demanded.

"I've been floating around for a while."

"Right." Jack glanced around, specifically looking at Sky, Syd and Z. "We're ready. SPD! Emergency!"

* * *

And just like that, it was all over.

Well, more or less, anyway. There was a lot of fighting first, but most of it blurred together for Sky. He did remember realizing he'd just demolished Cruger's chair in an effort to take down a Krybot; Jack did it for him, bracing him while he caught his breath.

"Sky?"

"Yeah?"

Mock-seriously, Jack told him, "Try not to destroy the fittings."

"Ha." Sky retorted.

Jack grinned at him, lifting his communicator. "Kat."

"Go."

"We have Command." A cheer went up from the cadets around the room, and he paused to laugh triumphantly before continuing, "How are your cadets?"

"One needs to be in the infirmary yesterday. Three others need care very soon. Apart from that, bumps and bruises."

"Good. Can you divide the mobile ones into teams? We need the base swept top to bottom, make sure there's no surprises waiting for us."

"Right." Kat agreed. "Boom's on his way to you; he'll start the internal scans."

"Ok. The cadets we have here will sweep this floor, so don't worry about that." Jack closed the communicator, turning to Sam. "Can you go find Cruger? I can't call him until we're sure they're not listening in."

"Of course." Sam tilted his head, managing to give the impression of smiling even under the helmet. "Good job, Jack."

Sky had turned to disperse the cadets as soon as Jack had mentioned it, and he sealed the door after them before turning back. He was in time to see Jack slide into a hunker at the base of the console, burying his head in his hands.

"Jack." Z knelt next to him, and he lifted his head to meet her eyes. "You did good, brother."

Sky looked away uncomfortably, locking his gaze on a shower of sparks falling from the ceiling. Across the room, Syd stared unseeingly at a destroyed console, absently turning her hand to metal and back.

"Boom!" she said suddenly and overloud, crossing to unlock the doors. Her warning gave Jack enough time to get back on his feet, all traces of indecision wiped away.

"Hi." Boom said uncertainly, surprised at the effusive greeting. "Wow. You guys did a number in here, huh? Did we get them?"

"Morgana got away." Syd told him. Sky blinked; he hadn't noticed her leave.

"But we did catch her Freak-of-the-Week!" Z put in, displaying the card.

"Boom, can you get the sensors running?" Jack asked. Absently he took the card from Z and put it down on the main console.

"Um…yeah. It looks Ok. I need to fix whatever Joanne did to them, though, so it might take a few minutes."

"Ok. Get going. We'll…" he looked blankly at the mess. "Start tidying, I guess."

* * *

It took Boom about ten minutes to get the sensors going, and another five after that to find Bridge's morpher…and, presumably, Bridge. It was stationary in a storeroom a little over half-way between the Command Center and the infirmary.

Sky was the first one in by a narrow margin, and he found Bridge and Joanne in the furthest corner.

Bridge was slumped against the wall in a corner between two sets of shelves, meaning he could only be approached head on. He was awake—at least, he looked at Sky as he approached—but there was no recognition there. Joanne was standing…more or less…in front of him, totally blocking him from the room. Her weight was mostly on her left hand, wrapped tightly around a shelf support, and her right arm was tied awkwardly to her side with a belt.

Bridge looked like hell, pale, feverish, and with blood matting his hair and dried down the side of his face. Joanne's back was towards them, but from the way she was swaying he didn't think she was in much better shape. Both were soaked from the sprinklers.

"Bridge." he said softly, and though Bridge didn't react he saw Joanne stiffen as though bracing herself.

Jack stopped beside him. "Bridge, man, we were worried about you. Joanne, move out of the way so we can get him out of there." Bridge's eyes flickered to Jack as he spoke, but there was still no recognition in them.

Joanne shifted again, blocking Bridge from both their views. "You'll not hurt him."

"What? Of course not." Jack wasn't really listening to her, too focused on his unmoving teammate. "Just move out of the way."

"Jack." Sky said quietly, aware of the girls just behind him, Joanne's ragged breathing, Bridge's frighteningly shallow breaths. "Jack, she doesn't know who you are."


	9. In which some answers are provided

Author's note: Hey, Chylea. I know, I'm late, sorry: RL sucks at the moment. Here's hoping this answers a few of your questions.

Saphire Stone(Hope I got that right): Thanks for the review. I'm glad you're enjoying.

In which someanswersare provided, and some more questions are posed.

Jack frowned, looking at Sky. "What do you mean?"

Sky backed up a few steps, out of Joanne's earshot. Z stayed where she was, watching Joanne and Bridge and listening with half an ear to Sky's explanation.

"Look at her. She's expecting to be shot in the back. She's so deep in shock she has no clue what's going on, only that we're here to take Bridge away from her. If she can remember her own name right now I'd be surprised."

Z looked back at Joanne; she was muttering nonstop now, and Z flinched as she began making out words. "No more. You won't hurt him again. Kill me first. No more hurting. Won't let you." On and on she went, repeating the same things and ignoring Bridge as he attempted to speak to her. There was a little more life in his eyes now, but she wasn't sure he recognized them yet.

Jack considered that for a moment before nodding. "Ok. I can work with that." Moving closer to Joanne again, he dropped into a hunker safely out of her reach. "Joanne, can you hear me?"

She shuddered, swaying alarmingly to the left before recovering. "Yes."

"Who am I?"

"Jack."

"And the others?" He gestured vaguely towards Z, even though Joanne couldn't see him.

"The team…"

Bridge was trying to sit up now, awareness and recognition flooding back into his face, but she hushed him with a look.

"You know Bridge is safe with us?" Jack continued placidly.

"Yes."

"Good. So will you move out of the way?"

"I can't." she whispered. Even as she spoke she was still protecting Bridge, shifting each time any of them moved to keep them away from him. If they had been evil, the only way they'd have gotten to Bridge would literally be over her dead body.

Z had been staring at the blood on Joanne's arm, and all of a sudden she realized what was bothering her. The blood was fresh; so much of Joanne's weight was hanging from that hand the shelving was cutting deeply into her fingers and palm.

"Joanne, all the fighting's over." Jack continued doggedly.

"I know." she agreed, shifting her weight again. Bridge was trying more insistently now to get her to let go, but she wasn't budging.

Z caught Sky's eye and they stepped forward in unison; Sky scooped Joanne into his arms while Z pried her fingers loose. Joanne wailed, trying to hit them, but Sky had caught her good arm between their bodies.

Sky locked eyes with Bridge while Z tried to bandage her hand. Very clearly, he said, "She couldn't let go." Bridge nodded, letting his head sink back to rest against the wall.

Sky stepped back, moving towards the door. Syd immediately scooted forward, talking softly to Bridge as soon as she was within reach, warning him what she was going to do as she quickly examined him. Jack joined her, and Z hovered over them.

Sky glanced down at Joanne, who'd stopped fighting him. "Can I put you down?"

She shuddered, almost overbalancing him. "Yes."

"Sure?"

"Yes. Please."

She slid into a sitting position as soon as she touched the floor. Sky stood beside her, watching the others try to maneuver Bridge out of the corner without injuring anyone in the process.

Jack glanced back at him. "Sky, can you help me move this shelf?"

"Yeah." He glanced down at Joanne. "You Ok?"

She didn't seem to register the question—or she was ignoring him, one or the other. Either way, she wouldn't miss him for a minute.

Their rescue efforts were hampered by Bridge's determination to help. Given that he was at best semi-conscious and only vaguely coherent, he was more of a hindrance than anything, but they couldn't persuade him to sit still.

He was more coherent by the time they'd got him out of the corner; enough to tell them his name, their names, and roughly what was happening, though he was defeated when Syd held up three fingers and asked him to count. He did, however, immediately ask about Kat and Morgana. Jack assured him that one had escaped and the other was safe in the infirmary. "Which is where we're going now." he added.

"What happened everyone else?" Bridge asked as they levered him to his feet. The question didn't hide the hiss of pain as he moved.

"Looks like you guys took the worst of it." Jack told him, glancing at Joanne. "Joanne, you ready to come to the infirmary?"

Z frowned, taking a step forward. "Joanne?"

Curled into a tight ball against the wall near the door, she didn't seem to even realize they were there. Z laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and she jerked away, slamming against the wall again.

"Don't." Bridge said suddenly, pulling free of Jack's hand. The move threw him off balance and he half-fell, half-slid to the floor. "Jo—Singer, listen to me for a minute. This is SPD headquarters on Earth. Sky, what's the date?"

Sky frowned but gave him the date, which he repeated verbatim to her. "We're hiding because Morgana wanted us. But the fighting's over now, Singer. We're safe now. My friends came to help us."

Joanne had been relaxing as he spoke, uncurling enough to see him. Now she whispered, so softly they barely heard it, "Lie."

Without hesitation, Bridge told her, "I wish you'd never come back into my life."

"Bridge!" Z protested. "Why'd you…"

"No." Joanne was struggling to her feet when they looked back at her. "No. It's good, Z. Thank you, Bridge."

Catching the look on Jack's face, Bridge explained, "Things that are true."

"And a lie I knew was coming." Joanne added.

"Right." Jack said slowly. "Whatever. We can sort that out later; let's get you out of here."

* * *

Bridge had broken a couple of ribs, they discovered later. His concussion had been aggravated by another blow, and he'd picked up a lot of bruises and cuts, including a line of bruises along his jaw.

Syd, it turned out, had sprained her wrist without even realizing. The other Rangers had various cuts and bumps, and Kat was nursing a split lip and a lovely black eye. Of the cadets she'd been worried about, only one was still in any danger, and he was said to be stable.

Joanne's right arm was broken, and the cuts on her left hand had needed stitches. The doctor diagnosed her with nervous exhaustion, and two days after the attack she was still sedated. The base was almost back to normal by then; the Rangers had been pulling long hours to help, lifting and carrying and supervising the cadets.

Bridge was confined to the infirmary for most of that time. The concussion had cleared, but lifting and tidying was out of the question for him. The Rangers made sure he wasn't alone too often or for too long, and Boom dropped in and out with plans for an upgrade of the base defenses.

On the afternoon of the third day Syd found his bed empty. On the verge of starting a base-wide search, she paused on a hunch and checked Joanne's bed.

Bridge was standing at the end of the bed.

Syd checked the curtains were fully closed before joining him. When he didn't acknowledge her, she ventured, "Should you be out of bed?"

"What happened?" he asked.

"What do you remember?" They weren't supposed to talk to him about this until they were sure his memory hadn't been affected.

"Nothing. I know there was an attack—but if I don't remember, did it really happen? And if your memories say yes and mine say no, how can…ow!"

"It happened." Syd said dryly. "Hurt yourself?"

"I think I turned too fast." He pressed his hand against his ribs. "What happened Singer?"

"Morgana thought she knew how to run the base." Syd said carefully.

Bridge nodded. "I sort of remember that; she had Kat as well, right?"

"Right. None of you told her anything, until she started hurting you. Joanne promised to help her then, but she blew the power instead and got you out in the confusion. She saved your life, Bridge."

Bridge took a step forward; Syd echoed him across the bed. "Is she Ok?"

"Yeah." Syd smiled. "She broke her arm and picked up a bunch of bruises. The doctor has her sedated; um, nervous exhaustion? But she's going to…Bridge!"

Bridge looked up in surprise, one hand hovering over Joanne's shoulder. "What?"

"Where are your gloves?"

"Oh." Bridge looked at his hand as though he'd never seen it before, lowering it to his side with exaggerated caution. "I left them…"

He trailed off suddenly, one hand going up to his head.

"Bridge?" Syd said worriedly. "What is it?"

"She touched me." he murmured.

"Joanne?"

Bridge shook his head, swaying alarmingly. "Morgana. She…none of us said anything so she was getting really angry and she was going to hit me, and then she didn't…" His words were spilling out too fast for Syd to follow now. "She touched me. She caught my chin, and I reached up to grab her hand. And it—there's all black inside, there's no light in her at all, and I couldn't see, I couldn't find my way out. And then Singer…I wouldn't let her tell, I kept telling her not to, but then I couldn't concentrate and I didn't know what she was doing and then she promised to help…" He glared down at Joanne, still sedated into unconsciousness.

"She was trying to help." Syd hazarded, not at all sure what had actually happened. Boom had told them bits and pieces, but he'd missed things and some he wouldn't repeat to anyone.

"That's not the point." Bridge muttered. One hand went to touch her and then fisted in anger.

"Bridge, come back to bed." Syd urged gently. "Get some rest. You can talk to her about it when she wakes up."

Bridge was about to answer when the curtain was abruptly pulled back; he flinched, turning away from the sudden brightness.

"Bridge." Kat said, resignedly. "I thought you might be here."

"I've been trying to get him back to bed." Syd said hurriedly.

"So have we all. He's not really hearing us, I think." "Looking at Bridge, she added, "Singer won't be waking up today."

"Don't call her that." Bridge said without looking up.

"Bridge…"

"Can I go back to my room?"

Kat rolled her eyes. "Not today, Bridge. We're still not sure if…"

"Please." he cut her off. Quieter, he added, "Not when she's awake, Kat."

"That's what she said." Kat studied him for a minute. "She won't wake up today. Tomorrow I'll check on you first thing, and if I can I'll release you then."

"Kat…"

"Tomorrow." she repeated firmly. Looking at Syd, she added, "Make sure he goes back to bed."

"I will." she promised. As soon as Kat was gone she added warily, "Bridge? You Ok?"

"I can't be here when she wakes up." He spoke almost absently.

"Why not?"

He looked up, meeting her eyes. As though it were perfectly obvious, he told her, "Because I'm angry with her."

"Why?" Syd insisted, moving around the bed to catch his arm.

"I have to go back to bed." he muttered, turning away.

"Bridge." Syd protested.

"I'm tired. We'll talk later."

"Can we?"

He glanced back at her, catching her meaning and smiling. "Yes. We can talk about it later." For a moment it was as though nothing had happened, as though he were just Bridge again, and she smiled back at him.

"All right. Let's get you back to bed now, huh?"

Bridge hesitated, though, looking down at Joanne again. "Do me a favor, Syd?"

"Of course."

"Singer gets cold really easily. She always did. Can you…" He trailed off again, pressing both hands against his head.

"I'll make sure she's Ok. You want a doctor? Did they leave you painkillers?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"Yes. I'm fine." He didn't open his eyes as he spoke, though.

"You're not. Bridge…"

"On the nightstand." he said finally, giving in. Syd scooped up the pills and the glass of water, offering him both.

"Why do you do that?" Syd asked softly when he put the glass down.

"Syd…"

"Why pretend you're not hurting?"

"I'm tired, Syd." He sat down on the bed as he spoke.

"All right." she agreed reluctantly. "But we're talking later."

"Looking forward to it already."

When she glanced back from the door he'd curled himself into a ball and buried himself under the blankets.


	10. In which we learn the truth

Author's note: Sorry if I confused you. Feel free to ask any specific questions in the comments.

In which we finally get some answers...or do we?

"You guys, we have to find out what's wrong with Bridge."

The Rangers, currently plastered over various pieces of furniture, made vaguely affirmative noises to this proclamation.

"Jack!" Syd protested.

"I hear you." He waved in approximately her direction. "We'll sort it out tomorrow."

"Tomorrow we have training all day! And Bridge is trying to get out of the infirmary, and then he can just avoid her until she leaves and…" She shrugged helplessly. "It'll never get any better."

Jack sat upright, staring at her. "You're really worried?"

"He thinks he's angry at her, and he's not. But we can't get him to see that if we don't know why he's not-angry in the first place."

"Ok." Jack looked at Z. "You up for a little investigating?"

"Sure."

"Don't get caught." Sky didn't look up from his book as he spoke.

"You're not going to help?" Syd asked, with her best little-girl-lost pout.

"Someone's got to distract Cruger and Kat when they come looking for you." He still didn't look away from the book. "Try the personnel records. You should be able to get into them without too much trouble."

"Thanks, Sky." Jack said with a grin. "C'mon, Z."

* * *

"These records are useless." Z shoved away from the terminal. "All we know is Bridge didn't start coming in for training and check-ups until well after the other two. There's no mention of Joanne, and without a last name I can't track her in any database."

"Alright. Clear up your trail and we'll try something else." Jack glanced at the door as he spoke; they'd found an empty lab to use for their technically not-legal investigation, but they couldn't count on it staying that way for long.

"Got it." Z bounced out of her seat. "Let's go, brother."

The door opened as Jack reached for the button. He backed up, phasing through a table without realizing it.

Kat glanced briefly at them as she came in, pausing almost imperceptibly before continuing across the lab to pick up a device from the far table. On her way back out, she paused just short of triggering the door and said mildly, "Records don't always tell the whole story. Sometimes it's better to go straight to the source."

"Uh—yes ma'am!" Jack said brightly.

Kat smiled at them before leaving. Jack laughed, turning to high-five Z. "Bridge or Joanne?"

"Bridge." Z said quickly. "I'm not sure Joanne's awake yet, and besides he told Syd he'd talk about it later."

"It's later." Jack agreed. "Let's go."

* * *

Two days later, Joanne was sitting cross-legged on her bed in the infirmary, staring into space, when Z paused by the bed. "Hey."

Joanne blinked, refocusing. "Hey, Z. How's Bridge?"

Over Kat's complaints Bridge had discharged himself the day before and was now sulking in his room, refusing to leave.

"He's good."

"Something wrong?" She gestured to the bandage on Z's arm.

"Ah…slight training accident. It's nothing."

"Cool." Joanne nodded, looking away again.

"Can I talk to you?" Z dropped to sit on the foot of the bed.

Joanne eased upwards towards the head of the bed, glaring at her. "You can. But I'd rather you didn't, since I'm pretty sure I know what you want to know."

"What happened between you guys." Z suggested.

"That's the one. It's his story, Z, not mine. I can't…" She trailed off, shaking her head.

"He's already told us some." Z assured her. Jack approached; Z ignored him to continue, "He didn't tell us everything. But he knew we were coming to you."

"And what did he say to that?"

"He sent you this." From behind his back, Jack produced a plate with two slices of toast on it. "It's, uh…" he wiggled his fingers. "Buttery."

Joanne smiled, reaching to take the plate from him. "Thank you."

"Look." Z said softly. "Bridge is unhappy. And you're not happy either. Let us try to help you."

"This isn't something you can fix with teamwork and a spiffy new invention. I don't know that it's something can be fixed at all."

"Never know unless we try." Jack pointed out, sitting down and shoving Z over.

"Yeah." Joanne took a bite of the toast. "I guess that's true. I hate buttery." She wiggled her fingers, dropping the toast back onto the plate. "Uck."

"So start at the start." Jack suggested, grinning. "You worked for Bridge's parents."

"Yeah. They called me a housekeeper, which sounds so much more impressive than it actually is."

"_My parents called her their housekeeper." Bridge had told them earlier. "Really she was my baby-sitter, because my parents worked a lot. We'd had others; I was seven when she came to us first."_

"I guess Bridge was about seven or eight when I started, and he was so…that's wrong. That's not the way to say it." She frowned down at her hands. "Bridge's parents had hoped there'd be no repercussions for Bridge from the experiments here. Sky and Syd had already manifested by then; you guys had disappeared, pretty much. But his parents had talked themselves into the belief that he was normal and so they never let him be anything else. Not because they didn't love him; because they did."

"_My parents didn't much like me talking about my powers. I guess they thought I was imagining it, or making it up."_

Z nodded, remembering Bridge's quiet, 'It was tough growing up different.' Those few words, spoken during the search for Sam, were all he'd ever said about his childhood, she realized now.

"So…what'd that do to Bridge?"

"He…was very introverted. Didn't talk to people, ever. He self-isolated himself as much as he could. He was seeing all these fantastic things, and no one would ever believe him about them…" she trailed off, staring at her hands.

_Bridge shrugged. "I didn't have many friends."_

"I didn't…it didn't take me long to figure out what was going on. It took longer to figure out what to do about it; his parents weren't going to hear it from me."

"What'd you do?" Jack asked.

"Nothing. For more than a year. I fed him toast and played with him and left him alone when he needed it and lied to his parents about how well he was doing. And just before he turned nine he decided he trusted me well enough to tell me how he saw colors, all the time, and how when he touched things…" she trailed off, gesturing. "Well, you know."

"_I thought I could trust her, so I told her about my powers."_

"And what happened?" Z prompted when Joanne didn't continue.

"I…thought about it for a while. I knew his parents wouldn't listen to me, nomatter what. So I dug a bit, I asked his parents some fairly innocent questions and I tracked down Kat Manx. And I turned Bridge in."

"_I don't want to talk about her anymore."_


	11. In which Joanne is either nasty or nice

Author's note: Hey, Chylea! Hopefully this chapter will answer all your questions...

In which, depending on your point of view, Joanne is either very nasty or fairly ok.

Z and Jack exchanged brief glances. "You turned him in to SPD when his parents didn't even believe him?" Jack asked.

"Broke his heart doing it." Joanne agreed. "I swore to him, on everything I loved including him, that I would keep his secret. And then barely a month later Dr Manx came knocking on the door and took him away."

"Took him away." Jack repeated slowly.

"They knew about Sky and Syd all along. Bridge was new, so there were tests…I don't know. He was gone for four days, and they only brought him home then because he was pining so hard he was making himself sick. Dr Manx said he'd have to keep going back, monitoring and tests…and she told his parents not to touch him anymore."

"She told an eight year old boy's parents not to touch him?" Z demanded.

"He was nine, and that's not quite how she meant it; she meant skin-on-skin when he wasn't expecting it. He was…um. When he came home he was more or less non-responsive. Dr Manx explained that his powers were out of control and touch exacerbated it."

"Exacerbated?" Jack repeated.

"Made it worse." Joanne said, managing not to sound patronizing with a huge effort. "She never meant for his parents not to touch him at all, but that's how they took it." She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her good arm around them. "Bridge hated me. He literally couldn't stand the sight of me. Wouldn't talk to me, he screamed his head off the first time I went near him…his father let me go. And I left."

"You left without talking to him?" Z said.

"He wouldn't hear me." Joanne said tiredly. "And nor would his parents, and I never saw Kat Manx again, not until a few days ago."

"You didn't see Bridge, did you." Z said slowly. "Not until he wouldn't talk to you in the city."

"I knew how he was, more or less. I talked to his parents for the first five years or so."

"And then what happened?" Jack asked.

Joanne smiled wryly. "They stopped taking my calls. Bridge found out."

"This is why he won't talk to you?" Z asked.

"This is our dirty little secret." Joanne agreed.

"But that doesn't even make sense."

"I sold him out, Jack. I promised faithfully his secret was safe with me, and I broke it."

"For his own good."

"He was nine."

"He's not nine now!"

"Yeah." Joanne sat back, tired and pale. "That's sort of the point, isn't it. Can you tell Commander Cruger I'd like to leave now, please."

"Joanne." Z protested.

"And tell Bridge I'll not bother him again. And I'm sorry."

"He wants to talk to you." she insisted, leaning forward. "He just doesn't know it."

"I'm not going to force him, Z. More harm than good that way. Just please ask the commander if I can leave."

"We'll ask." Jack promised. "Come on, Z."

"Jack." she protested, even as he hauled her off the bed.

"Come on, Z."

* * *

"We can't leave it there." Z protested, following Jack along the corridors.

"Unless you want to lock them in a room together, I don't see what more we can do. Z…" Jack turned to face her, drawing them both to the side of the corridor. "We push Bridge on this, we'll destroy the team. Think about some of the people in your past, what would you do if they turned up here?"

Z started to answer and then stopped, grimacing. "There has to be something."

"He's not really angry. And he wants to talk to her. Leave things alone for now; I don't see Cruger letting her leave anytime soon."

* * *

"You're leaving tomorrow." Z said flatly.

Joanne nodded. "Commander Cruger has that thing tomorrow, the-congratulations-you-survived-an-attack thing?"

"Debriefing." Z corrected her.

"Right. That. After that I'm leaving."

"Why stay for that? You're not SPD…you won't be debriefed."

"I can't say." Joanne said carefully. "Please don't ask again."

"Why not?"

"I'll tell you. Please don't."

Z nodded. "You don't have to leave. Bridge wants to see you."

"Bridge is nine years old when he sees me, and he hates me. I've told you I'm not pushing. He'll know where I am if he wants me."

"Tell me something." Z said after a minute.

"You ask, I tell. That's how it works."

"Why did you ask Bridge to lie to you? Why 'things that are true?' "

"Because I needed to hear them." Joanne bit her lip. "That's not very helpful, is it? Give me a minute." She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, thinking. "Ok. You know I know truth from lies, right?"

"Ye-ah." Z said slowly.

"And—say if Bridge is very tired. He picks up thoughts, emotions, easier than usual, right? To the point of pain, sometimes."

"Yeah."

"If I'm very tired, truth and lies can overwhelm me. Until I can't tell the difference."

Z shook her head, and Joanne leaned over to take her empty glass from her nightstand. "Ok. This is made of superglass. That's true, right? So I can perceive it. It was manufactured on a KO35 satellite. That's true too. The last person who used it was…Boom? Is there someone…it's six months two days old, the last drink in it was orange juice, it's been used seven thousand three hundred thirteen times, the…" She yanked her gaze away, dropping it to the bed. "See?"

"You can do that with anything?"

"It's difficult. But anything. If I'm very tired, then…and when I can't tell truth from lies I need something I know to start from. And the only thing I know here is Bridge."

"You still trust him? Now?"

"To the end of the world." Joanne said solemnly. "And beyond if necessary. Bridge isn't capable of hurting people."

"I know." Z agreed softly.

"You guys love him so much. It means more than you know that he has that." She caught Z's eye. "I'm sorry I hurt him. I thought saving him from Broodwing's machine would be worth it."

"Was it?"

"It would have been. If I'd managed."

"Joanne…"

"Z." Joanne said tiredly. "Can you just…I'm so tired of feeling guilty about this. I'd do it over if I could. Bridge knows it, you know it, Kat knows it, everyone knows it. Staying here just makes it so much harder. I've done as much as I can to fix this. It's for Bridge to do now."

"How old were you?" Z asked suddenly.

"What?" Joanne blinked, thrown.

"When Bridge was nine. How old were you?"

"Seventeen. I'm not quite nine years older than him—I was sixteen when I started with his family."

"You're twenty…nine?"

"Yeah. My birthday's in a couple of months." She sat back. "Z, do you get where I'm coming from? If I push this at Bridge he won't hear it. It has to come from him or it's no use."

"Yeah." Z sighed. "I get it. Look, you need anything?"

"No. Thanks. My escort's back to watch out for me." Z glanced over at the two C Squad cadets lounging near the entrance of the infirmary. "But thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

Z nodded slowly, wandering away. When the C Squad cadets looked up, she murmured, "If Cadet Carson comes down, let him in without question and page me."

"Yes ma'am."


	12. In which there is the end

Author's note: There's a sequel! It'll be up in a couple of weeks, all going to plan...

In which we come to the end

"…and finally, B Squad. You successfully let the counter-strike that cleared all hostiles from this building without outside leadership, rallying all cadets to follow you. Cadet Carson, while injured, refused to release vital information, and Cadets Delgado, Drew and Tate fought valiantly. Cadet Landers successfully oversaw the entire operation. Cadets, SPD is proud of you."

Cruger turned to Kat, taking a box from her arms. Opening it, he displayed the contents. "SPD is proud to award you our highest honor."

Lifting the medals from the box, Cruger draped them around everyone's neck. Jack smiled, lifting the medal to study the design on it.

"Atten-tion!"

Every cadet in the room came to attention at once. Jack thought sadly that the number was less than the previous week; some cadets had quit in the wake of the attack, and two others had been quietly dismissed.

"Cadets, I give you your Rangers!" Cruger boomed. The room erupted into cheers and applause, and Jack laughed, turning to hug Z and grin at the rest of the squad. Bridge, still a little shaky on his feet, smiled when he caught Jack's eye, and Syd and Sky were hugging.

As the debriefing broke up Jack saw Joanne turn away from her seat at the back of the room and slip out. Catching Z's eye, he gestured after her and began making his way through the room.

He wouldn't have caught her, but she got held up at the desk while the officer on duty checked her authorization so that she was just pushing out through the doors when he reached her. "Joanne!"

Sighing, she turned around. "What."

"You got some attitude, you know that?"

"Yes." she answered immediately, then made a face. "Look, if you're going to tell me Bridge really does want to talk to me and I shouldn't give up on him then don't, Ok? I've heard enough of it."

Jack shrugged. "Fair enough. Stay out of trouble."

"Thanks, Jack." She smiled at him. "Be safe."

She had made it all of five steps before Syd erupted out. "Joanne!"

"Oh god." Joanne muttered. "Should I just wait here for the others?"

"Might be easier." Jack agreed. Throwing her eyes to heaven, Joanne sat on the edge of the fountain.

"Tell me something." Jack said after a moment.

"You ask, I tell." Joanne said mock-cheerfully.

"Singer?"

"Yes?"

"No, I mean why Singer?"

"Gah…" Joanne grimaced, rubbing her temple. "Too broad, Jack. Narrow it down. Fast."

"Why does Bridge call you Singer?" Jack enunciated carefully.

"As a term of affection. My parents were theater actors, they used to think I'd join them…they thought I'd be a singer, even when I proved tone-deaf. They used to call me Singer sometimes, as a joke, and Bridge picked it up from them. Only he uses it now."

"Bridge met your parents?" Syd asked in surprise.

"My parents met Bridge. He got a bit overwhelmed and vanished after a few minutes. But we used talk over the comm; he knows them well enough." She caught Jack's eye and repeated, "It's only for him to use."

"Got it." Jack agreed quietly. "No calling you Singer."

"So," Joanne said, abruptly cheerful, "is it true Cruger made you wash all the windows one time? And Sky had to scrub the whole place with a toothbrush?"

"Who's been telling you tales?" Jack demanded in mock-outrage.

"Z, Boom, Syd, those two C Squad cadets, and someone from the ceremony who thought I was a cadet." Joanne answered promptly, looking annoyed.

"Rhetorical." Jack muttered.

"Wasn't." Joanne answered. "I can tell the difference. I don't have to answer rhetorical ones. Is it true?"

Jack grinned, launching into a very entertaining and almost true tale of the invasion of Dru Harrison.

It was about ten minutes later and they'd been joined by Sky and Z…the latter dragging the former, admittedly. Joanne had fended off three more rounds of 'he wants to talk to you' and now they were exchanging variations on 'don't get killed.'

Joanne glanced at her watch. "You know, I really have to go. I'm gonna miss my flight."

Z looked over her shoulder. "You might want to wait for a minute."

"Why?" Joanne slewed around on the bench.

Bridge was standing just outside the door.

"Um…right." She stumbled to her feet. "Hi."

"I called your father on you."

"Yeah. That would be why I'm leaving."

"Don't go yet."

"Bridge…" she bit her lip. "I kind of have to."

"Oh." He took a step back, fiddling with his glove. "Ok."

She grinned suddenly. "But, you know, I'm new in Newtech and I'm not sure I know the way to the airport. Would you, um…walk with me?"

"Yeah." Bridge agreed. "I'm pretty sure I'm free. Jack?"

"Well, I'll have to…"

"Great." Bridge cut him off. "Ready?"

"All yours." Joanne grinned at the others, fell into step with Bridge, and they walked away together.

"Jack, are you going to let…" Sky started.

"Let them go, Sky. Bridge needs this." Jack grinned, stretching out. "So who feels like running the mud course instead of me?"

Z glanced at Sky, raising an eyebrow. Jack was awfully close to the edge of the fountain, after all…


End file.
